American Beauty cast: Where are they now?

By Mark Gray 2:55pm PDT, Sep 6, 2017

When "American Beauty" came out in September 1999, it took cinema by storm. The film was not only a hit at the box office, raking in a reported $356 million, but with critics too. The Sam Mendes-directed drama hit instant-classic status upon its release and took home a war chest of hardware at award shows, including five Academy Awards, three Golden Globes and three SAG Awards. But what's happened to its stars since then? Wonderwall.com has you covered. Keep reading to see what the cast of "American Beauty" has been up to since its release…

Kevin Spacey played Lester Burnham, a suburban dad in the middle of a midlife crisis. Lester is a sexually frustrated man who lives with a wife who doesn't love him, nor does she really even like him. His life is in shambles in a lot of ways when he develops an infatuation with his daughter's best friend.

Kevin Spacey is a Juilliard-trained actor and one of the most respected talents in the business. He's won two Oscars (one for "American Beauty" and the other for 1996's "The Usual Suspects.") After "American Beauty," he went on to star in a litany of major films including "Superman Returns," "Horrible Bosses" and "Baby Driver." Many people now know him best for playing a devious and manipulative president on the Netflix series "House of Cards." He's also an executive producer on the show. You name it, Kevin's done it: He's won a Tony, has been nominated for a Grammy, and an Emmy nomination is practically an annual rite of passage. He's also been very private about his personal life. In 1998, he told the London Evening Standard, "The less you know about me, the easier it is to convince you that I am that character on-screen. It allows an audience to come into a movie theater and believe I am that person."

Carolyn Burnham, played by Annette Bening, is married to Lester. She's determined to be the best real estate agent around (and she actually is one of the best). She's absolutely disgusted by her husband and even cheats on him.

Annette Bening is quite simply a national treasure. Since her Oscar-nominated performance in "American Beauty," Annette went on to star in "Being Julia," for which she also earned an Oscar nod. She was nominated for an Emmy in 2005 for playing Jean Harris in "Mrs. Harris." Then, in 2010, she starred in the film "The Kids Are Alright," and, you guessed it, she was nominated for another Academy Award. An incredibly versatile actress, Annette will head back to TV in 2018 to star on "American Crime Story." In 1992, she married actor Warren Beatty. To this day, they are seen as one of the gold standards of Hollywood marriages. She and Warren have four children.

Mena Suvari played Angela Hayes, the object of Lester Burnham's lust and the best friend of his daughter. Angela is a super-sexual being — or so we think — who revels in male attention.

Around the same time Mena Suvari was getting rousing reviews for her work in "American Beauty," she was also starring in the raunchy teen comedy "American Pie." She also starred in the "Pie" sequels in 2001 and 2012. With her newfound fame, largely because of those projects, Mena won a role on HBO's "Six Feet Under." Her on-screen time has been ample. Her personal life hasn't been as successful. In 2000, she married cinematographer Robert Brinkmann. Five years later, the divorced. Then, in 2010, she married concert promoter Simone Sestito. Two years later, she was again divorced. Still, despite all of her fame and notoriety, she will long be remembered for that "American Beauty" scene in which she reclined in a bathtub of rose petals.

Thora Birch played Lester and Carolyn's teenage daughter, Jane Burnham, a girl who despises her parents.

Before "American Beauty," Thora Birch was a child star with some Hollywood hits under her belt. After "American Beauty," she had even more on-screen opportunities in films including "Dungeons & Dragons'" and "Slingshot." In 2002, she earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work in "Ghost World." A year later, she was nominated for an Emmy for her performance in "Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story." Reports indicate she took a break from acting around 2005 and her credits reflect that, as she's only had sporadic appearances on screen since. However, in 2017, it was revealed that Thora has roles in four upcoming films.

Chris Cooper starred as Col. Frank Fitts, the Burnhams' neighbor who was, as expected, very, very militant.

Everyone knows Chris Cooper. The year after "American Beauty" came out, he starred in "The Patriot." The following year, 2002, he appeared in "The Bourne Identity" and "Adaptation.," for which he won a best supporting actor Academy Award. He was Ben Affleck's father in "The Town" and appeared in a slew of other films including "Seabiscuit," "Syriana," "The Muppets," "August: Osage County" and more. Chris has actually starred in three films that were nominated for the best picture Oscar: "American Beauty," "Seabiscuit" and "Capote." In January 2005, tragedy struck when Chris and wife Marianne Leone's 17-year-old son, Jesse, died from natural causes related to his cerebral palsy.

In "American Beauty," Wes Bentley played Ricky Fitts. A bit on the weird side, Ricky sold Lester Burnham marijuana and fell in love with his daughter, Jane, in a fairly obsessive way. He videotapes essentially everything.

Juilliard alum Wes Bentley can credit "American Beauty" with launching his career, as he had very few Hollywood roles prior to appearing in the film. Since then, his credits have included "Ghost Rider," "The Hunger Games" and "Pete's Dragon." Since 2014, he's also had a major role in "American Horror Story." Perhaps his biggest feat, though, is beating drug addiction. In 2010, Wes told The New York Times that his addiction issues began right after he rose to fame in "American Beauty." He hid his problems from his wife (they later divorced) and admitted that he only worked for a period of time to get money for drugs. He got clean temporarily in 2008 but relapsed. In 2009, he told a friend he needed help and he's been clean since. The 2009 documentary "My Big Break" chronicles some of his drug use. In 2010, Wes married producer Jacqui Swedberg. They have two children.

Allison Janney played Barbara Fitts, the wife of Col. Frank Fitts and mother of Ricky Fitts, a meek woman who basically only speaks when spoken to.

At the time "American Beauty" came out, Allison Janney's career was taking off due largely to her role on "The West Wing." She won Emmys for her work on the White House drama in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. Then, several years later in 2014, she took home two more Emmys, this time for her work on the comedy "Mom" and the drama "Masters of Sex." In 2015, she won again for "Mom." It goes without saying that if Allison is on a TV program, she's probably stealing the show. She's no slouch on the big screen either. Over the last two decades, she's starred in "Juno," "The Help," "The Girl on the Train," "Finding Nemo" and many, many more. As of late 2016, she was dating production coordinator Philip Joncas.

Peter Gallagher starred as Buddy Kane, a realtor with whom Carolyn Burnham has an affair.

To 30-somethings, Peter Gallagher will always be known as Sandy Cohen, his character on "The O.C." Of course, Peter was in a slew of films before "American Beauty" and a slew of films after "American Beauty." After 1999, he appeared in movies including "Mr. Deeds" and "Center Stage" — but Peter really made his hay on TV. His run on "The O.C." lasted the length of the series. He had a big role on "Calfornication" for one season. He also starred on "Rescue Me," "The Good Wife" and "Togetherness." In addition, from 2014 to 2017, he's been a recurring character on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." As if that weren't enough, he also starred on Broadway in 2015 in "On the Twentieth Century." In 2005, he also released an album titled "7 Days in Memphis" on the Sony label. Not a bad life. He's been married to Paula Harwood, the mother of his two children, since the '80s.

Scott Bakula (right) starred as Jim Olmeyer, a gay man who lives with his partner two doors down from Col. Fitts.

Scott Bakula was quite well-known before "American Beauty," especially through his work on "Murphy Brown" and "Quantum Leap," for which he won a Golden Globe. Not much has changed: Scott is still an in-demand actor in Hollywood. He's worked on feature films, including opposite Matt Damon in "The Informant!," but he's predominantly a TV actor — and a good one too. On the TV side, he starred for five years on "Star Trek: Enterprise" and acted on "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Looking" and "NCIS: New Orleans," just to name a few. He's also a father of four who's been married to second wife Chelsea Field since 2009.

John Cho was a glorified extra, starring as an interested home buyer — bet you didn't even know he was in the film!

John Cho's life has gone into another orbit since his small role in "American Beauty." He landed a lead role in the stoner-centric "Harold and Kumar" films and scored the role of Sulu in the rebooted "Star Trek" film franchise from 2009 to 2016. His plate is rather full with TV and movie gigs. He's also now married to actress Kerri Higuchi, who appeared on "Grey's Anatomy." They have two children.